Many changes in society have been brought about as a result of advancements in technology. Advancements in communication technology, for instance, have significantly increased the availability of, and types of, communication services by which information can be communicated between communication stations. Perhaps nowhere are the improved capabilities more evident than in radio communication services, such as those provided through use of a mobile station. Mobile stations are conventionally utilized in conjunction with cellular, or cellular-like communication networks. While mobile stations were generally first known, and used, for circuit-switched voice communications, increasingly, more data-intensive communication services are provided by, and with, new generation mobile stations.
Through use of packet-switched technologies, multimedia, and other data-intensive, communication services are carried out. The packet-switched services, and network entities through which packet-switched data is routed differ in various regards to the network entities and communication paths through which circuit-switched data, communicated pursuant to a circuit-switched communication service, is routed. Mobile stations are regularly now constructed to permit their operation both pursuant to packet-switched communications and pursuant to circuit-switched communications. Voice communications can also be carried out using packet-switched connections.
In spite of the capability of a mobile station regularly to be able to communicate both pursuant to circuit-switched communications and packet-switched communications, for any of various reasons, a mobile station might not be able to receive, or otherwise communicate, pursuant to a packet-switched service. The mobile station may, if fact, not be packet-switched capable. Or, the subscription pursuant to which the mobile station operates is not permitting of its reception of packet-switched data. Or, even if the mobile station is packet-switched capable, the packet-switched network might not support the particular media that is to be communicated pursuant to the communication service. Additionally, even if the mobile station is packet-switched capable, user preference might be to utilize circuit-switched connections. Or, operator, or other, policy might be prohibitive of packet-switched access.
Therefore, there are regular occurrences of situations in which a mobile station is connected in a circuit-switched connection with a communication network when a packet-switched service, such as an IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) service is to be or is desired to be, performed. The mobile station, so-connected, is herein referred to as an ICS UE (IMS Circuit-Switched User Equipment). Network-embodied functionality provides configurable IMS services, but such configurable services are generally only readily configurable by a packet-switched connected mobile station.
For a circuit-switched mobile station, i.e., the ICS UE, to configure an IMS centralized service, conventionally-available configuration schemes exhibit various problems. One manner by which to permit the circuit-switched mobile station to configure an IMS service requires the user of the mobile station to form a call connection with a customer service entity. And, in turn, the customer service entity performs the required actions by which to configure the IMS service. However, a call to a customer service entity is generally costly and, in any event, is inconsistent with goals of an operator generally to cut down on customer service costs. In another conventional manner by which to configure an IMS service, the user of the circuit-switched mobile station uses a web browser, via a packet-switched connection, or an other interface, such as a Ut interface. However, use of this procedure requires the availability of a packet-switched connection. In some situations, a packet-switched network connection is unavailable, or policy or user preference precludes use of a packet-switched connection.
Existing manners, therefore, by which to provide for a circuit-switched mobile station to configure an IMS service are inadequate. An improved manner by which to permit the circuit-switched mobile station to configure an IMS service would therefore be advantageous.
It is in light of this background information related to IMS services in a communication system that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.